Page 77 - Gulf Precis (V)_Neat

PRECIS OP
KOWEIT AFFAIRS.

I—BRIEF HISTORY OF KOWEIT FROM CIRCA 1716 TO 1896.
%
1. ICowcifc has been playing a part in the theatre of Persian Gulf poli­
tics only within the last ten years. Its previous history was marked by few poli­
tical events, except deaths of its chiefs and successions, which took place with­
out disturbance. It is frequently mentioned under the name of Granc, Gran or
Grain in the correspondence connected with the British factory at Basrah in the
last half of the 18th century, as a port of call for ships plying between Bombay
and Basrah for the trade of Central Arabia.
2. The earliest account in our records descriptive of Koweit is contained in coUirooWs n-
Major Colcbrooke’s report about the Persian Gulf littoral, dated 10th September port, 1820.
1820:—
“ The first settlement at tho head of tho Gulf is Koweit situated in a commodious harbour,
and inhabited by a mixed race of Arabs in subjec-
PaRo 259 Bombay Political Department, tion to the Aula dnbbeit, a branch of the Utubi
0 om* 0 ' tribe It is represented to bo defended by a Fort
mounting 20 guns, but as tho water in the town is insufficient for the inhabitants, who supply
themselves from the small Island of Fetiche, *the
• Tho Fail&Vi island.
place must be incapable of defence except against
surprise or sudden assault. According to the most probable estimate the armed population
amounts to from f>,U0U to 7,000 men, of these but a few hundreds are Utubis, the rest a mixed
race commercially and peaceably disposed. The Island of Feliche is inhibited by about 5«‘0
men of the mixed class and protected by a towered Ghurry. As a survey of this Port was made
by order of Government, a general description is unnecessary ",
3. In the year 1821, when the Pasha of Baghdad has boon subjecting the fac­ Koueit madt hm•
tory of Basrah to unjust exactions of duties porary Britith tel.
Bombay Political Department, Volume 59 of 1821. tlement, 1821,
and to other annoyances, Sir Mountstuart
Elphinstono, Govornor of Bombay, found it necessary to threaten the pachalic
of Baghdad with an interdict of all commercial intercourse. To show that the
East India Company was in earnest, the Resident of Basrah, under the Gover­
nor’s instructions, struck the British fiag at Basrah on 25th December 1821
and removed tho British settlement to tho island of Grain as being the most
eligible spot. The Pasha soon after made peace with the Company’s Agents
and the factory was re-established at Basrah. It may be noted that * Grain 1
is spoken of hero as an island. Probably it was the Failaka island which is at
the entrance of the Bay of Koweit.
4. In 1829 Major George B. Brucks submitted to the Bombay Govern- Major BncVs
t Pago 570 of selection! from Bombay Govern* JTICnt an aCCOUnt about tllQ navigation Of reP°rt» 1829.
ment Records, Voi. xxiv. the Persian Gulf, and he writes! about
the Koweit Sheikhs :—
They acknowledg'd the authority of the Turks, and pay the tribute of forty bags of rice
and four hundred frazils of dales annualln. The Sheikh also receives an honorary dress front
the Turkish Government yearly—They have enjoyed peace while all other parts of tho Gulf
have been embroiled, and to this they owo their maritime greatness. Cattlo arc to be pro-
cured good, but very dear.
From Granc to Khore cl Kuffagi, alone: the Arabian Coast, the authority of the Sheikh
of Grane is partially acknowledged by the lledouin Tribo, who are mostly of the A1 Ali, and
a branch of the Beni Khalid, and some wandering parties of other tribes ; also some few stran­
gling camps cf the Montific Tribe, who come this way at certain seasons. The amount, of
imports t»» Grane is said to bo about fivo lakhs of dollars, the exports aro under ono lakh.
The variation of tho compass at Grane iu 1X2-1 was 5° 22' W. Grane also takes a sharo in the
pearl fishery.
A. In 1847 the Sheikh of Koweit is said to have declared himsolf a
vassal of the Porto (see pago 418 of Bombay Selections No. XXIV).
6. In hia report on tho tribes, etc., around the shores of the Persian . Gulf. Colo**i
dated ICth July 1863 (published;, Colouel Pelly uotod :— r,portt iSCS-